There is growing recognition that the oceans are crucial to global sustainability and play a key equilibrating role in global climate as the primary sink for excess heat and carbon present in the global climate system and represent a vital repository and supporter of global biological diversity.
Coastal and ocean areas are the drivers for the global economy, especially through sea-borne trade as well as via a rising ‘Blue Economy’ around the world, and play a crucial and increasingly important role in global food security. These areas are therefore of critical importance across scales, from the global to the regional, national and sub-national coastal community levels.